World Bank Group Helping West and Central Africa Better Attract Foreign Investment and Jobs

Johannesburg, South Africa September 20,
2011 — The Investment Climate Advisory Services of the World Bank
Group is training a regional pool of experts who will help investment promotion
intermediaries in West and Central Africa better respond to queries from
potential investors and draw more foreign investment to the continent for
infrastructure, tourism, and other projects.

The World Bank Group is training 13 people
at a September 20-23 Johannesburg workshop so they can go on to train investment
authorities in West and Central Africa and help them provide quality and
timely information to foreign investors. The 13 individuals were selected
for their investment promotion experience in the region.

The Johannesburg training is part of the
World Bank Group’s broader strategy to help Africa improve its investment
climate and strengthen its private sector, which includes drawing more
foreign investment. A World Bank Group report reveals that 24 of 25 investment
promotion intermediaries in West and Central Africa are missing opportunities
to attract investment.

Global Investment Promotion Benchmarking
2012: Eyes on ACP assesses how well 77 countries in Africa, the Caribbean,
and the Pacific (ACP) facilitate investment by evaluating their web sites
and responses to two information requests by potential investors with tourism
and agribusiness projects.

Due for release in February 2012, early results
show that only Senegal’s Agence Nationale pour la Promotion de l'Investissement
et des Grands Travaux (APIX) responded to both the tourism and the agribusiness
investors in an effort to secure the projects for the country.

David Bridgman, the World Bank Group’s Investment
Climate Advisory Services manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, said, “If country
information is hard to obtain, foreign investors will simply go elsewhere.
The World Bank Group is helping African countries attract the foreign investment
they need to strengthen its economy and create jobs by building the capacity
of those agencies that deal directly with potential investors.”

The Investment Promotion Agency of Mali
(API-Mali) emerged as number one in the sub-region, based on the report’s
rankings. Other agencies that performed at the top of the region’s ranking,
with scores over 45 percent, were those of Senegal and Ghana.

The Johannesburg workshop will prepare seven
investment promotion consultants and six trainers from APIX, API Mali,
the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, ACP Business Climate, the Millennium
Cities Initative in Mali, and other agencies in the region.

The Global Investment Promotion Benchmarking
2012: Eyes on ACP is part of the broader Global Investment Promotion
Benchmarking report, which assesses 189 national IPIs. The report is
produced by the World Bank Group's Investment Climate Advisory Services
and sponsored by ProInvest, a partnership program developed by the European
Commission.

About the Investment Climate Advisory
Services of the World Bank GroupThe Investment Climate Advisory Services
of the World Bank Group helps governments implement reforms to improve
their business environment, and encourage and retain investment, thus fostering
competitive markets, growth and job creation. Funding is provided by the
World Bank Group (IFC, MIGA, and the World Bank) and over fifteen donor
partners working through the multi-donor FIAS platform.